What Happens to Your Funds When You Withdraw?
If you:
then Eastern Kentucky University will determine how much of your Title IV aid must be returned to the Title IV Programs. Title IV Funds refers to the following federal financial aid programs authorized under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (as amended):
How Part Or All of Your Title IV Grant Or Loan Is Returned
The amount to be returned depends on your withdrawal date.
Your withdrawal date is:
Title IV aid is earned in a prorated manner on a per diem basis up to the 60% point in the semester. After this point in time, Title IV aid is viewed as 100% earned. You can request a copy of the worksheet used for this calculation from Big E Central. Also, some registration fees cannot be refunded.
In accordance with federal regulations, refunds are allocated in this order:
Responsibilities regarding the return of Title IV funds:
EKU’s responsibility includes:
Student’s responsibility includes:
In accordance with the guidance provided in the FSA Handbook, Volume V, the process is completed weekly to ensure deadlines are met (45-day deadline from date of determination to return required funds, 30-day deadline to notify student/parent of post-withdrawal disbursement). If students are due a post-withdrawal disbursement of loan funds, they will be notified via letter from EKU’s Big E Central and have 14 days to respond.
The above fees, procedures and policies supersede those published previously and are subject to change at any time.
If you believe that your individual circumstances warrant that your charges or refund should be determined in a manner other than the published policy, then contact Big E Central at 859-622-2361.
Treatment of Title IV Aid When a Student Withdraws
Though your aid is posted to your account at the start of each period, you earn the funds as you complete the period. If you withdraw during your payment period or period of enrollment, the amount of Title IV aid that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula.
If you (or EKU or your parent on your behalf) received less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds in the form of a post-withdrawal disbursement (PWD). If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned by the school and/or you.
The amount of assistance that you have earned is determined on a pro rata basis. For example, if you completed 30% of your payment period or period of enrollment, you earn 30% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60% of the payment period or period of enrollment, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period.
You will not be subject to returns of your Title IV aid if you meet one of the following exemptions:
If you did not receive all the funds that you earned, you may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. If your PWD includes loan funds, EKU must get your permission before we can disburse them. You may choose to decline some or all the loan funds so that you don’t incur additional debt. EKU may automatically use all or a portion of your PWD of grant funds for tuition, fees, and food and housing charges.
EKU needs your permission to use the post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other institutional charges. If you do not give your permission, you will be offered the funds. However, it may be in your best interest to allow EKU to keep the funds to reduce your debt at the school.
There are some Title IV funds that you were scheduled to receive that cannot be disbursed to you once you withdraw because of other eligibility requirements. For example, if you are a first-time, first-year undergraduate student and you have not completed the first 30 days of your program before you withdraw, you will not receive any Direct Loan funds that you would have received had you remained enrolled past the 30th day. If you receive (or your school or parent receive on your behalf) excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, your school must return a portion of the excess funds equal to the lesser of:
EKU must return this amount even if we didn’t keep this amount of your Title IV program funds. If EKU is not required to return all the excess funds, you may be required to return the remaining amount.
For any loan funds that you must return, you (or your parent for a Direct PLUS Loan) will repay the loan funds in accordance with the terms of the promissory note.
Any amount of unearned grant funds that you must return is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that you must repay is half of the grant funds you received or were scheduled to receive. You do not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original amount of the overpayment is $50 or less. You must pay the overpayment in full or make arrangements with EKU or the Department of Education to return the unearned grant funds.
The requirements for Title IV program funds when you withdraw are separate from EKU’s refund policy. Therefore, you may still owe funds to the school to cover unpaid institutional charges. EKU may also charge you for any Title IV program funds that we were required to return.